One Year
by zeppoJane
Summary: Five years after the war a new marriage law has come into effect and now Draco and Ginny have one year before they must wed. How will the two deal with the news and will they succumb to the inevitable or fight it. Will contain sexual explicit content in later chapters, for 18 only.
1. Prolouge

It had been five long years since the end of the war. Many had been lost and from it much had been rebuilt, but now the reforms were starting. Since that time three Ministers of Magic had been put in office and then removed, the Wizengamot had been dismembered, and a new parliamentary styled cabinet to assist the Minster of Magic had been created. This cabinet was made up of equal parts of purebloods and half-bloods, with two muggle-born representatives thrown in for balance. Lucius Malfoy was the pureblood spokesman, Reginald Cattermole headed the half-blood division, and Hermione Granger was the leader for the muggle-borns. The three of them were the deciding voters for all reforms occurring within the wizarding world and had been since the formation of the cabinet three years prior.

Now the newest Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt and this cabinet were determined to never let something like that happen again. They had begun tackling the issues that were at the heart of Voldemort's regime. The simple fact of the matter was the pure bloods who had sided with the half-blood wizard had done so for a reason and that reason could be ignored no longer. To do so would only invite trouble into the wizarding world again. So with a heavy heart Kingsley stamped his seal making the latest and most poignant of reforms official and magically binding. The next morning the Daily Profit would announce the news and thousands of owls would be going out to young witches and wizards throughout the wizarding world.

Kingsley pinched the bridge of his nose and swallowed the last of his firewhiskey. Rising from his desk he pulled his cloak over his shoulders and left his office for a few short hours of rest. He knew he would need to be up and ready to answer questions from both Daily Prophet and concerned citizens. Hopefully his cabinet heads would be willing and ready to stand with him. It had been a hard battle these last five years and this reform would undoubtedly stir up trouble for a while yet. The Minister just hoped he was doing the right thing for the wizarding world as a whole.

* * *

**Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt Creates New Pureblood Marriage Law.**

_All unwed purebloods over the age of seventeen and with at least three generation of purity will be coupled and forced into marriage. These nuptials must occur within one year's time and are mandatory under this new law. But how are these couples to be paired for this barbaric arrangement? The couples are being paired based on blood purity and magical strength. Families with shorter pureblood pedigree list will be paired with those with equal pedigree and those with longer chains of ancestry will face the same. They will also be coupled according to their inherent magical talents and strengths. What's more these marriages are to be treated like all magical marriages, both legally and magically binding, eternal and irreversible._

_When asked why only purebloods are to be affected for this newest reform Minster of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt remarked that this law was put into place to encourage pureblood coupling. This reported asked if such coupling would help the wizarding world, or if it would give credence to the prejudices that led to our war just five years ago. Shacklebolt remarked, "It is our hope that this reform will not encourage such prejudices but will rather help to abate the fears which led to them."_

_Despite this apparently hopeful outlook on the new pureblood focused reform there are dire consequences to those who try to evade or escape the new laws restrictions and credos. The threat of life imprisonment within the walls of Azkaban will have many rushing to say their 'I dos' long before the year is out. The Ministry promises all couples have already been chosen and can find owls addressed to them listing their partner's names before the day is out._


	2. Chapter One

Ginny sleepily mussed her hair as she trudged down the stairs of the Burrow. She groaned at the loud voices of her parents and brothers squabbling over breakfast. This was just a fine example of why she needed to find and move into a flat of her own. Especially since she was twenty-three and still living at home, but with her now steady job working at the Prophet she would be able to do that soon enough. Sighing she trudged into the busy and crammed kitchen. "What are you all doing here?" she asked, plopping into her chair next to Harry.

They had ended things between them five years ago when the war ended, both realizing that too much had happened and they'd changed too much to go back. Now he was like one of her many brothers. Along with George and Harry, Ron and Hermione had joined them this morning. The two had been married for just over a year now and Hermione's slight baby-bump was just beginning to show.

Everyone fell silent and Molly froze in serving eggs to her large family. Arthur looked at his young daughter with concern and pity before passing her their copy of the Prophet. Ginny raised a brow and began to read, everyone waited quietly as she read the headline. She was the only one left in her family unmarried and would be the only effected. Laying the paper down she swallowed hard and rose to pour herself a strong cuppa tea.

Turning back to find her family watching her carefully she took a small sip and wondered where to begin to process the odd bit of information the paper had offered. "Well then, I wonder when the owl will come."

George reached into his pocket and pulled out the unopened missive, "it came early Gin."

Taking the letter in hand she quickly opened it to read who her fated partner was to be. She gave a small snort of derision before tossing the letter onto the table and heading upstairs again, mumbling about needing to get ready for work. Everyone left at the table let their eyes scan over the opened letter's contents. Only two words stood out in black ink upon the otherwise pristine page. DRACO MALFOY…

* * *

Draco was up early having just completed his usual morning run. He threw his coffee pot on and headed off to the shower after having given the paper a glance over. The blonde wizard had of course known about the upcoming reform, his father having warned him. He shook his head with a smile wondering who the lucky lady would be. After showering he came back into his kitchen, now fully dressed, rubbing a towel over his still partially damp head. An owl sat neatly upon his counter waiting with a letter containing the Ministry seal. Patting the bird and giving it a treat he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat to open the letter. Wincing as he managed to give himself a paper cut Draco dropped the letter, now opened and sat sipping his cup, contemplating what to do.

Ginny Weasley…. Ginny Weasley…. He knew her of course, had seen her plenty of times. Even when they were attending school together he had noticed her, both before and after she had bat-bogey-hexed him in his fifth year. The beautiful and fiery tempered witch wasn't easy to miss at any rate. But Draco was never an idiot and knew it would take more than a binding ceremony or even a law decreeing it to make her his wife. So now the question was simply, what to do next.


	3. Chapter Two

It had been a month since the news of the new reform had come to light for the wizarding world. Thirty-six couples had already rushed off and gotten it over with as many of them chose to phrase it. However one couple in particular had deemed to not even speak to one another yet. Neither had any reason to run into one another usually so both Ginny and Draco seemed to be dragging their feet.

Ginny was a writer and statistics keeper for the quidditch section of the Daily Prophet and Draco was in training to be an auror. Despite training with her brother and ex-boyfriend they rarely had happened to meet at all in the last half-decade. Truthfully Ginny was simply choosing to willfully ignore the reform and with it the imperative that she should be the future Mrs. Malfoy.

Draco on the other hand was simply trying to figure out to go about starting the necessary conversation that would inevitably lead to their marriage. Finally he had settled on how to approach the topic and after discreetly checking with her brother that she would be home that evening he apparated to her family's home.

Arthur Weasley frowned as he rose to answer the knock on door and let his frown deepen when he spotted the young man standing on the other side. Draco stood twirling what looked to be a muggle hat in his hands, one of the ones criminals in old moving pictures Arthur had seen wear. Draco looked up at the older man, his tall frame slumped a bit to make him appear smaller and more vulnerable than he was. "Sir, may I please speak to your daughter?" he requested politely.

Arthur stepped back allowing the Malfoy boy to enter his home and shut the door, crossing his arms as he faced the younger man. "What about?"

Draco looked into the dark brown eyes of the elder Weasley and found himself admiring the other wizard. He could only hope he would show so much strength and conviction in facing future suitors of any daughters he might have. "I came to talk to Ginny because as I understand it we're to be married. Your daughter and I don't know each other very well and… well I was hoping that we might get to know another, perhaps become friends in the very least."

Arthur glanced up towards the stairs where Ginny had come down hearing the knock and voices in her home. Draco followed his eyes and found the witch watching him with guarded eyes the same color as her fathers. He nodded a greeting at her and she gave a small sigh.

"What's this about Malfoy?" she questioned as she joined the two men standing just inside their sitting room.

"Well," Draco began. "As I was just explaining to your father, I thought it might be best if we spent some of the time allotted to us over the next year getting to know one another. Become mates, as we're being forced to wed. I thought perhaps we could meet for a lunch sometime…"

Ginny held up a hand for a short second before letting it drop back into the folds of the thick grey sweater she had curled around her small form. Pursing her lips she took a moment, seeming to be thinking it over before finally groaning. "Fine, when and where Malfoy?"

He smirked at her, "next week sometime. I have Thursday free if that works for you?" At her nod he turned and nodded to father politely. "I'll owl you the location later this week then," he called over his shoulder before apparating home.

Ginny rolled her eyes as her father shut the door once more and looked to his daughter. "I don't want to talk about it Da," she nearly growled as she fled back up the stairs again. All she had wanted was to ignore this silly law but now Draco bleeding Malfoy had waltzed in sounding all logical and polite and ruined it. _Bloody Ferret_, she cursed before flopping onto her bed in a huff.


End file.
